Shout-outs: Phoenixmagic1, lysjelonken, 13 Jo, Little Mender, Anna, Zats, Jisbon4ever, Frogster, Viviskilener4ever, redneckdetectiv, In The Name, P. Schoeller, lisbon69. . . and anybody I left out, I apologize. You guys are the Ultimate!
8. Dinner with April and Daisy
"That was the best pizza ever!" Daisy said, after they had finished off the last slice.
"Well, wait until you go to Italy. . . you've never tasted pizza until you've had it there," Jane said, pulling her into his lap, and nuzzling her nose. He looked over at Lisbon, a smile on his lips. "Hey, Teresa. . . the next trip we make, remind me to book tickets to Italy."
Lisbon laughed. "Okay."
"Maybe we can go with you," Daisy suggested, grabbing Lisbon's hand in her own.
"We'll have to see," Jane replied. "But we'd love for you to come with us."
"Hey Uncle Patrick, did you hear about the bad man who broke Aunt Tessie's heart?" Daisy asked, she avoided his eyes, and played with the buttons on his Hawaiian style shirt.
"Daisy! Mom said not to say anything about that happening!" April scolded. She turned to Jane, and smiled. "So, are you going to beat him up?"
"Yeah! Beat him up!" Daisy agreed. "Punch him in the nose, and then the stomach. Then kick him while he's down!"
"Girls," Jane said. "This isn't really the best of subjects. Let's talk about something else."
"But—" Daisy started.
Jane shook his head. "No! No buts. Aunt Tessie got hurt, and talking about it will only make it hurt more."
Both Daisy and April looked like they wanted to say something else, but another warning look from Jane, and they both clammed up immediately.
"Thank you," Lisbon mouthed, smiling at him.
"You're welcome," he mouthed back. He turned to the girls. "So, who wants to go and see a movie? There's a theater just down the street."
"Can we get popcorn?" Daisy asked, jumping off the bed.
"You can get whatever you want," Jane answered.
"Okay!" Daisy said, enthusiastically. "Let's go."
.
"They're so beautiful when they sleep," Lisbon said as she and Jane looked down at Daisy and April a couple of hours later. "So peaceful."
Jane put his arm around Lisbon's waist and pulled her close. He laid a kiss on her forehead and asked, "Do you want kids?"
She looked at him, startled. She couldn't understand why he had asked such a question. "Of course I do. . . lots of them."
"I want kids too," Jane said. "I want all of them to have green eyes and brunette hair. Or maybe green eyes and blonde hair. Or blue eyes and brunette hair—"
"Jane, that's not funny," Lisbon chided. "Please, don't joke like that."
He laughed, even though he hadn't been joking. He really did want to have children with Lisbon. If he were being totally honest with her, and with himself. . . he would have told her that their deal to get an annulment seemed so far away. But he didn't even know he was even daring to think the thought.
"We should go to bed," he said, releasing her.
"Yeah," she agreed quietly. She bent down and brushed feather-soft kisses on April and Daisy's foreheads.
Jane's breath caught in his throat, picturing a scene like that with their own children one day. But again, he couldn't say it. Besides, she still loved Emmett. . . she hadn't gotten over him yet. He couldn't really blame her; the guy had only left her four days ago. He swallowed hard, and leaned over to give the girls kisses of his own, then followed Lisbon to get ready for bed.
.
Lisbon spent most of the night, laying on her side and watching Jane as he slept. But she wasn't thinking about the man sleeping by her side. She was thinking about Emmett. . . and the tall, blonde model-like woman who had been clinging to his arm. The woman was everything she wasn't. She was sort of thinking about Jane, and how she could have been falling for him. . . until she had run into Emmett and he had messed up her mind. But mostly, she was thinking about how he didn't look the least bit guilty for being caught with another woman just day after they were supposed to have been married. And how he didn't look the least bit sorry when he saw her, or try to explain why he had left.
She didn't really want anything else from Emmett. If he ever asked to come back, she would probably refuse him. He had hurt her once before, who was to say it wouldn't happen again? No, she didn't care if Emmett was her's ever again. She just wanted an explanation to why he had left. Had she done something wrong? Had the Woman always in the picture, even before they had been dating? She decided that she had to find Emmett and demand an explanation from him for why he had left. Then, she would tell him off and try to make her one-year marriage with Jane workout somehow.
.
"I can't believe you're doing this Teresa," Shani said as followed Lisbon into the lobby of the hotel where Emmett was staying the next day.
"You don't understand Shani, I have to do this, and I need to find out why he left me.
"You're just being stupid! Keep the past in the past. . . you have a great guy—"
"I have a great guy," Lisbon said. "But things will never be great between us if I don't talk to Emmett."
"Teresa!" Shani shouted after her. "Please, let's just leave!"
But Lisbon was a woman on a mission and she wouldn't be swayed one bit. Shani shook her head and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, then dialed Jane's number. She knew that Lisbon would need him to be there for her after the confrontation with Emmett was over.
Jane answered on the first ring and asked where they were. Shani quickly filled him in on the details, and asked him to get to the hotel as fast as he could. Jane promised he would do just that, and hung up before Shani even got a chance to say goodbye.
She found Lisbon a few seconds later, and the two of them went to ask after Emmett together. The desk attendant was very helpful, and called his room almost immediately. . . no questions asked. Less than five minutes later, Emmett had joined them and was leading Lisbon to the hotel café, without inviting Shani to come along.
Shani sighed, pulled out a novel, and took a seat. . . waiting for Jane to show up and save Lisbon.
.
"Why did you go?" Lisbon asked, after they had both ordered coffees. "I especially want to know why you left the day of the wedding. . . I want to know why you didn't come and tell me that you didn't want to marry me."
"I almost came to see you, but I couldn't face you," Emmett answered.
"But why?"
"You're Teresa Lisbon; you punch your consultant when you get angry. I didn't want you to punch me."
"I wouldn't have punched you," Lisbon said. "I would have punched Jane. That's actually why I keep him around."
"You keep him around for other reasons," Emmett replied. "I wasn't blind Teresa. I saw the way you two looked at each other."
"Oh please." Lisbon rolled her eyes. "I didn't – don't – have feelings for my consultant."
"But that's not why I left," Emmett said. "I didn't love you Teresa. I never loved you. . . not in all the time we were together."
Lisbon felt like she had been punched in the stomach. "Then why were we together?"
"Because, you fit my ten year plan," Emmett answered, unashamedly. "Marrying a woman who had made a name for herself. Marry a woman who would make me look good."
"So, the whole relationship was all about you then?" Lisbon whispered.
"Yes," Emmett replied.
"From what I've heard, relationships are supposed to be give and then take."
Lisbon stood up. "Jane! What are you doing here?"
"Shani called me and said that you might need a pal," Jane answered. "So, here I am."
"You're Knight in Shining White Armor," Emmett sarcastically added.
Jane turned to him. "As a matter of fact, I am. And you know what Mr. Oliver, I'm glad that Lisbon didn't marry you. You have a lot to learn about relationships before you marry any woman."
"Like, what do I have to learn?"
"Like I said, that relationships are about both giving and taking. And that you should have been trying to outdo Lisbon in making her happy. Putting her needs before your own. And giving her the small things. Like, programs at her wedding, and a honeymoon—"
Lisbon came over to him and gently put her hand on his arm. "Okay, we can go now Jane," she said quietly.
"Well, I'm glad that I didn't marry you." Emmett stood-up and called out after them as they left. "I heard all about how you turned around and married him the day you were supposed to marry me! My mother called and told me—"
"Wait a minute Teresa," Jane said. He turned around and went back to Emmett, delivering a tidy punch to his nose as he did.
"I'll sue!" Emmett said, rubbing his nose gingerly.
"No, no you won't," Jane replied. "If you ever bother either of us again, you will be sorry."
.
"Patrick?" Shani asked as he and Lisbon passed her to go out to the parking lot.
"I'll bring Teresa back with me," Jane said, over his shoulder. "You go on ahead of us."
Shani nodded and gave them an opportunity to leave before heading to her own rental car.
.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Lisbon asked, after Jane had found a place to get coffee.
"I don't understand why you went and saw him," Jane answered. "I mean, after the way he treated you."
Lisbon smiled teasingly. "You don't understand? And you're supposed to know everything."
"Lisbon, I'm not in the mood for joking."
She sobered. "Okay, fine. . . I'll tell you why I went. I wanted closure."
"Closure's overrated," Jane said. "It makes you feel even worse than you felt before it."
"Not me. Today's meeting with Emmett made me realize what a jerk he really is. I don't know what I ever really saw in him."
"His money and ridiculous good looks," Jane said.
"So now you decide to play psychic." She reached over and took his hand in her own. "Could you just try and let today's incident go? I promise never to see him again."
"Lisbon, I—" Jane let the thought hang in the air, finishing the thought in his head instead. Lisbon, I love you. He smiled at her sheepishly. "Are you angry at me?"
"Why should I be angry at you?" Lisbon asked.
"Because I punched Emmett."
"I thought it was sweet," Lisbon replied. "Thank you."
"You know, I'm always going to save you Lisbon, whether you like it or not," Jane said quietly.
"I know that," Lisbon said. She leaned over the table that was separating them, and kissed his cheek quickly. "Thank you."
Jane touched his cheek, and tried to figure out how he was going to survive without her in his life. Because he needed her more than anything. When she wasn't around, it was like a year in California without rain.
TBC. . .
This chapter was edited to "Lullaby" by Priscilla Ahn, and "A Year Without Rain" by Selena Gomez & the Scene. (I quoted the song at the end of the story. Oh! And the last part of the song wasn't in my original draft. But that's only because I wrote it in May.)